Tuesday, April 6 2021 00:15

ArmInfo.There were post-electoral events, a new president was already elected - it was  not about preserving my power. The second President of Armenia stated  this in an interview with the Posner program on Channel One,  referring to the events of March 1, 2008.

<My term was coming to an end. And on April 9, 2008, I handed in my  credentials. There was no question of my retaining power. There were  riots, there were clashes with the police, a state of emergency was  imposed. 2 policemen were killed, and about 180 injured. Mostly  shrapnel wounds and burns from Molotov cocktails. So all I did was  declare a state of emergency. I had to do it based on my official  position, " Kocharyan said.

In this context, he recalled the decision of the Constitutional  Court, which weeks earlier recognized article 300.1 of the Criminal  Code of the Republic of Armenia, under which he was charged, as  anti-constitutional. "Just a week ago, the Constitutional Court of  Armenia declared Article 300.1 of the RA Criminal Code  unconstitutional. Now the Prosecutor General's Office is trying to  re-qualify the charge, but I don't think they will succeed. That is,  the concept of how the president can overthrow the constitutional  system... I still don't get the point. We have been saying for three  years that this is simply absurd, and finally, the Constitutional  Court has made this decision. By the way, based on the conclusions of  the Venice Commission and the European Court of Human Rights," he  said.

Kocharyan also stressed that he aspires to power, and does it today,  because he does not see those who could lead Armenia out of the  situation in which it found itself. He recalled that twice he managed  to do this. According to him, for the first time in Karabakh - then  it was possible not just to return what was lost, but also to create  a security belt, territories twice as large, and the same was done in  1998 in Armenia, after he was invited by the Prime Minister in 1997.   The ex-president stressed that the budget has increased 8 times in 10  years.

To the remark that Mark Twain spoke about 3 types of lies, one of  them is the  statistics, Kocharyan stated that the budget increased  from $ 300 million in 1998 to $ 2.5 billion. In 2008, "There's no way  to fasten Twain here," the former president said.

"I have led the country for 10 years, but I am a non-partisan. I will  participate at the head of the bloc of parties, most likely, it will  be two parties, " he said, but did not specify which parties will  create a bloc to participate in the early elections.

At the same time, he stressed that he expects to win this election.   The ex-president explained the migration by saying that people do not  leave from a good life. <The exodus of the population from Armenia is  quite a long story. The war, since 1992, the migration balance has  always been negative. The only 3 years with a positive balance are  the last 3 years of my presidency. They began to return with their  families, " Kocharyan recalled, adding that security issues, unclear  landmarks, chaos in the management inside always cause people to  worry, and long-term anxiety turns into anxiety.

When asked whether his meetings in Moscow would be interpreted as a  sign of support for Putin, Robert Kocharyan retorted: "Do you think  this compromises me?> < Absolutely, on the contrary. I will only be  happy if they try to use it. I have never hidden my attitude to  Russia. A lot was done during my presidency, " the former president  said. At the same time, he stressed that a stable foreign policy and  predictability are very important for the country.

Robert Kocharyan also expressed his opinion on the issue of various  opinion polls in the context of the elections. "An extremely large  percentage of people who refuse to talk about the elections at all,"  Kocharyan said, adding that it is possible to take money and order a  sociological study, but with such a large number of refuseniks, it is  impossible to conduct a real poll. Although there are not even  companies, but people who sell the brand of these companies, who do  something under the guise of a social survey.